Excess flow check valve



` Nov. 7, 1939. w. c. BUTTNER y 2,179,144

EXCESS FLOW CHECK VALVE Filed Aug. 7`, 19:57

Patented Nov. 7, 1939 .PATENT osi-1ct Excess now y0111101; VALVE William C. Buttner, Winnetka, lll., asslgnor to The Bastian-Blessing Co., Chicago, lll., a cor-- poration of Illinois Application August 7, 1937, Serial No. 157,915

1 Claim.

valve. In the present form it is designed primarily for association in .a line through-which uid passes, for example, a lgas line, and is intended to prevent ow of material through the line in excess of a predetermined maximum.

In its particular form it is designed for use in connection with a tank lso arranged or constructed that `the valve and its housing and assembly must bev inserted from the outside. In many tanks which are provided with manholes, excess flow check valves may be inserted from the inside. In tanks which are smaller or which for some reason are not provided with manholes, thev l5' valve assembly must be inserted from outside the tank and this problem differs fundamentally from that in which a valve can be inserted from the inside.

One object of the invention is. therefore, to 10 provide an exicess flow check valve assembly which may be readily seated in a tank from the outside. Another is to provide in connection with such a valve a construction in which the valve parts, when the valve assembly is in position, are g5 within the tank. A further object is to provide a construction in which the valve parts are so arranged within the tank that should breakage occur outside of the tank wall the valve will cori- 40 preferably provided with a threaded perforation 2 within which the valve housing 3 which is correspondingly threaded at I is seated. A portion of the Yvalve which remains exterior to the tank Ymay be squared or'otherwise'shaped -as at 5 to 45 receive a tool by means of which it is put in place.

and removed. 'I'his portion has a cavity or pas'- sage which may be threaded as at 6 to4 receive A -the correspondingly threaded portion 1 of a pipe or conduit 8, through which gas orother uid 50 passes in the direction of the arrow to the point'of use or discharge or storage. The valve housing 3'is provided with a preferably central bore 9. which is enlarged as at III to produce a shoulder II. The enlargement Imaybe interiorly thread- 55 ed-as atI2 to receive the correspondingly thread- This invention relates to an excess flow check ed and preferably reduced portion l3 of a retainer I4 which is itself interlorly threaded as at I5 to receive the correspondingly threaded portion I6 of a pipe or conduit I'I. This latter may be omitted or used, as conditions dictate. Frequent- 8 ly it is desirable to have such a conduit extend toward the bottom or lower portion of the tank.

I8 is a valve member or slug which is preferably cylindrical in shape and provided' with a .bore I9 which may have a beveled lower edge or l0 end 20. The valve member .is provided with a preferably integral reduced portion 2i and perforations'22 which extend from the bore I9 to the l exterior of the valve. 'There may be any desired number of these perforations. The reduced portion 2I is provided with a seating face 23, which, when the valve is. closed, seats against theshoulder II formed in the interior enlargement I0 of the valve housing3. The valve may be used as shown or may be given a particular seating shape 2o and theshoulder II, if desired, may havea specially shaped seat. As shown here both the shoulder and the seatingvface '23 of the valve are fiat.

A compression spring 24- is positioned within the internal enlargement III of the bore 9 in the 25 valve housing 3 and bears at one end upon the shoulder II and at the other end upon a shoulder 25 formed about the reduced portion -2I of the valve or slug I3.

As shown'in the figure. the valve body 3 may 30' be reduced as at 26. thus the groove or notch 26 is formed around the valve body to control breaking should any occur outside ofthe margin of the wall I. If breakage occurs. it will occur about this notch or groove which 'defines a minimum section 35 of the valve body and thus controls the location of the break and insures that if it occurs it will do so at 'a suitable location and one at which .it will leave the remainder of the valve body and the .valve mechanism in vproper operating condition. 40

The use and operation of the invention are as follows: 4

The valve is so arranged and proportioned that it will ordinarily remain open when n ow through it is not above a-predetermined limit. When the flow exceeds the predetermined limit the valve or slug member I I is raised from the position shown i in the ligure by pressure'or friction or both, and

moves against the resistance of the spring 24 and rises and is seated with its seating face 23 against 50' .the shoulder! I. thus shutting oil -ilow throughthe valve.

AThe valve may operate satisfactorily in a variety of andis not tothe vertical position here shown 'as a 'matter of convenience. 55

The valve assembly as a whole may be positioned so that the valve element I8 moves vertically up to` close or vertically down to close Aor in any angular position with respect to the horizontal. When the valve assembly is to be applied to a tank, it is positioned in a suitably prepared hole i or opening in the tank wall-which may be made at any time prior to the insertion of thev valve assembly. The valve assembly is rmly secured. being usually screwed into place, and the desired connections are made so thatmaterial passing from the tank is conducted to the desiredv point.

If ow becomes excessive, the valve closes in the age has occurred, to prevent this. YFor that reason the construction shown is arranged with all of the valve parts within the'tank. They cannot be broken or their operation interfered with by breakage occurring anywhere beyond the tank walls. Even if the upper portion 5 of the valve housing 3 itself should be broken oil' short atthe outer margin of the tank wall l, the valve parts would not be destroyed and would remain in satisfactory operation, closing the valve instantly upon the occurrence of the excess ow which would take place at the same time as the breakage. Thedevice thus comprises a combination of the valve and tank, so arranged that the valve is safeguarded and excess ow is prevented during normal operation or as a result Vof any breakage occurring outside the tank wall.

- 40 Where a tank wall hasbeen spoken of its equivalent is to be included. The Ydevice might merely be a cover plate for a tank, or a tank closure and the invention is not limited to the placement of the valve in an opening in a member which forms a part of the enclosing wall of a tank.

I claim:

An excess flow valve assembly adapted forinsertion through an aperture in a tank Wall, and including a housing having a longitudinal uniform bore, a-hollow valve plunger slidable in said bore, and including a guide portion-conforming generally to said bore, said plunger having seating portions at each end thereof, the outer of said seating portions -being solid, the inner of said seating portions having an aperture therethrough, said plunger having a Vcommunicating aperture extending from its hollow interior, and in communication with the interior of the cylindrical bore beyond the plunger, a uid passage member adapted to have one end in communication with the interior of a tank and the other in communication with the interior of the cylindrical bore and aligned with the aperture of said last mentioned seat, said housing having a passage in its outer end in communication with said bore on the outer side of said plunger and circumferential seats for said passage and passage member, said solid plunger seat being adapted to close the passage inthe outer end of the housing when the plunger is moved against the associated circumferential seat, yielding means adapted normally to hold said plunger in the opposite direction, said yielding means being of sufcient strength normally to hold said' plunger with its apertured seat against the seat surrounding the passage member, with the interior of the plungerv in communication with the passage in the outer end of the housing, but of insuilicient strength to resist closing movement of said plunger in response to predetermined excess pressure within the tank.

WILLIAM C. BU'ITNER. 

